And for this we are thankful.... - Armenian Reporter

The Armenian Reporter | November 22, 2008 23CommentaryLiving inArmeniaWomen of the worldby Maria TitizianNUEVO VALLARTA, Mexico – We live in extraordinarytimes, to be sure.I have contemplated the women in my life,the women in Armenia, and the women ofthe world with pride, with anger, with love,with anticipation, and loss and rage and expectation.They have given me the opportunityto feel moved, profoundly. They haveinspired me with their strength and courage.I have been blessed to meet women whohave shown me that it is possible to havechange and progress and above all else, hope.Their experiences in this very male-dominatedhome of all men and women have inspiredme. And sometimes it has crippled me. Theirvoice has been so strong and articulate that ithas made mine sound like a whisper.This is a poem written for the women ofMexico, but its message resonates with everyfemale soul in the world. It begins like this…Mothers, daughters, sisters, Native Americans,half breeds, white, black. Multiracial. Multicolored.Polyphonic.Several…bravely…departed many or a fewyears ago to carry out revolutions, their deathclearing the way for us; others, some years ago,raised their voices, their eyes, their body andsprinting like a gazelle or a panther, left theirmark along the way.We still have a lot to do.Not mince our words.Not be afraid.Eradicate opportunism and compromises.Be tolerant, ever tolerant.And demand, always, at every moment,in ever greater numbers,with a whisper,with a word,with a song,with a slogan,with a poem,with a prayer,with a shout,with a howl,Freedom.bookreviewFreedom.To be.To decide.To act.To fight.To continue with the ceaseless, recurrent, neverending struggle to be able to live.As women,as individuals,as citizens.This excerpt was written by a rural woman,who silently yet courageously rose toprominence in a country rife with poverty,injustice, inequality, crime, and desolation.Beatriz Paredes rose to the highest officein politics in her country. She leads millionsof supporters. She is the leader of the PRIparty of Mexico, yet she has never forgottenher sisters dying in the fields that feed herpeople. She has never forgotten the womenwho are abused and ignored and marginalized.She is not afraid to raise her voice to beheard so that she can help the women whocame before her and those who will come afterher. She is not afraid to speak of women’srights.And Armenia?Where are the women leaders of Armenia?Some women are members of parliament,some work in the executive branch of thegovernment, but most of these women haveforgotten where they came from. They haveforgotten the stories of their mothers. Theyhave forgotten that their daughters will haveto struggle for something that they shouldhave resolved in their lifetime.And what about Armenian women?From access to healthcare, to poverty, toignorance, to abuse, to silent systematic barriersto their advancement in society, Armenianwomen have lost their voice. Yes, thereare organizations in the diaspora that claimto speak about women’s issues, but I wonderwhat they have done for the women in Armenia.Yes, there are nongovernmental agenciesin Armenia who work in the field of women’srights but they are few and unable to create areal movement.Show me don’t tell meBeatriz Paredes. Photo: Wikipedia.Reports are published from time to timeabout the status of women in Armenia. AmnestyInternational, on November 12, releasedthe following report: “National surveys suggestthat more than a quarter of women inArmenia have faced physical violence at thehands of husbands or other family members.Many of these women have little choice butto remain in abusive situations as reportingviolence is strongly stigmatized in Armeniansociety. Violence in the family takes manyforms, ranging from isolation and the withholdingof economic necessities, to physicaland sexual violence, and even murder, yetwomen have few options to escape situationsin which they are at risk.”Armenia’s penal code does not even mentiondomestic violence. Shelters for abusedwomen are not encouraged. People see themas an infringement on family life. Domesticviolence, sexual abuse after all is a familymatter, is it not? We are afraid to say loudlyand publicly that which is taking place in thehomeland. It is a national shame. It makesme sick. It enrages me. And yet, here I am, awoman, not doing much other than writingabout it.And where are you? Where is that Armenianwoman I thought existed? The one whowasn’t afraid to shout from the rooftopsagainst the aggressions forced on her people.Why is she not shouting for her own rights?Why are we so afraid to look into the face ofabuse and say, “No more”?Why are we not talking about the reproductivehealth of women in this country?Why are we not talking about the thousandsof women in Armenia using abortion as ameans of fertility regulation? Why are womendying when they can be living, raisingtheir children, helping to create a better society?Why is it that women in other societiesand countries are not afraid to engage theirpublic about the issues affecting women?These are questions I pose for whoeverwants to listen. These are problems I lay atour feet.I am not a poet. But I want to write a poemfor the women of Armenia.I want to tell them that they are therulers of their lives. I want them to knowthat they must find the inner strength, thefortitude to face down all those who wishto oppress them. I want them to live andlaugh and cry and rejoice. I want them tobe empowered. I want them to love and beloved, genuinely, unconditionally, faithfully.I want them to raise their sons anddaughters equally. I want them to fear nomore. I want them to be able to forge a futurefor our people, for this tiny homelandnestled amongst mountains, to walk sideby side with the men who claim to havethe answers to all our misfortunes. I wantthem to look in the mirror and feel prideand confidence. I want them to know thatthe world awaits them. That their peopleneeds them. That their children deservethem.fby Salpi H. Ghazarian“Show me, don’t tell me” is pretty good advicefor parents and others very passionate abouttheir beliefs and anxious to raise kids in theirown image.This is not what we experienced growingup – those of us who heard sermon afteradmonition about being a good Armenian,growing up a good Armenian, marrying agood Armenian, learning to speak good Armenian,and just generally being told to lovea country and a people for the sake of theparents we loved.For some, the consequence of this kind ofparent-child relationship has been a kind ofstandoff between two generations whosememories began and ended with storiesabout growing up deprived, poor, and inseemingly hopeless conditions.In other words, childhood memories consistedof parents we loved telling us storiesabout a country we were told to love, and apast we were told to respect.No one showed us; they just told us. That’snot likely to work with this generation, andthankfully, there are books on the marketthat try to tell the difficult stories in a waythat young people can understand and absorb.The Canadians, who pride themselves ontheir multiculturalism, have, through theCanada Council for the Arts and the OntarioArts Council, supported a publishing programcalled New Beginnings. Aram’s Choice isone of the titles in this series and it’s a storyof an Armenian boy, exiled to Greece, on hisway to Canada as one of the original GeorgetownBoys. This group of Armenian orphanswas brought to Georgetown, Ontario, in theearly 1920s to live in yet another orphanage.Marsha Forchuk Skrypuch tells a fictionalizedversion of a real story that begins inSalpi H. Ghazarian, formerly editor and publisherof Armenian International Magazine, is director of theYerevan-based Civilitas Foundation.The cover of Aram’s Choice.Corfu, Greece, and ends up in “paradise.” Agroup of young boys, orphans, joined togetheron the deportation route, find themselves ina missionary-run orphanage in Greece. At 12,Aram is among the oldest, and both his grandmother– his only living relative – and the directorof the orphanage fear for his safety.So when a group of 50 boys is selected tobe moved to Canada, Aram is among them,against his wishes. Once he is persuaded byhis grandmother that there is no alternative,the adventure begins – by ship to Marseille,by rail to Cherbourg, by ship again to thePort of Quebec, to a country where there wasgold on the trees. Actually, it was gold leaveson maple trees, but they didn’t find that outuntil they arrived.On the way, the challenges are many.Learning to eat soup with a spoon, and withoutslurping. Trying to collect enough moneyto bring along their teacher, too old to bean orphan, but too Armenian to return toa country where his safety was threatened.In Canada, there were even more challenges.The white cold drink they were given wasn’tthe familiar cold yogurt tan, but a non-sourfresh milk. The boots they wore were forsnow, not war.The quintessential picture of Armenianorphans after the Genocide was AntranigZaroukian’s Men without Childhood. Writtenin Armenian, translated into English by JackAntreassian, what a different sort of storythat was. Then, about a decade ago, therewas David Kherdian’s award-winning TheRoad from Home. The stories of many mothersand grandmothers wrapped into one, itwas a story about the human spirit. ThoseLettersPrayers no moreanswered not utteredby SaroyanSir:At the time I addressed the Knights andDaughters of Vartan on October 20 (seeArmenian Reporter, November 15), I had notbeen successful in tracing the origin of theSaroyan poster. I was therefore gratified toread Mr. Zaven Khanjian’s account of itsprovenance. (Armenian Reporter, November1).Mr. Khanjian points out correctly a significantdifference between the wording ofthe text of the poster and the wording ofthe text in the original story written in 1935.are for older readers, in their teens and up,ready to deal with pain and suffering.Aram’s Choice, in 80 short, easy pages, withcolor illustrations by Muriel Wood, is a storyUnder reviewMarsha Forchuk Skrypuch, Aram’s Choice(New Beginnings), ill. Muriel Wood(Markham, Ontario: Fitzhenry and Whiteside,2006).However, Mr. Khanjian neglects to address asignificantly more egregious departure fromthe original text, and that has to do with thewords, “and prayers are no more answered”as it appears in the poster and the words,“whose prayers are no longer uttered” as itappears in the original.In my attempts to uncover the source ofthe deception, I had the opportunity to communicatewith Mr. Paul Kalinian, who hadmade a documentary film about Saroyan.He, too, had no idea who had produced theposter, but confirmed the use of the originalwords referenced above, “no longer uttered,”as they were recorded by Saroyan in his ownvoice.Very truly yours,C.K. GarabedTeaneck, N.J.Tell us what you think.Write to letters@reporter.amor call 1-201-226-1995 (N.J.), 1-818-955-9933 (Calif.),374-10-367-195 (Armenia)